Finding Your Roots

Jessica and her father, Mark Alba, showed me photos of the tightly knit Mexican immigrant community in Claremont, California where she was raised. Tell me about this. Oh my God. Um, my dad actually was a very good singer. My dad ended up being a classical guitarist. -

Interviewer

Jessica's powerful connection to her Mexican roots was forged here, surrounded by her father's family. She told me that one family story, in particular, cemented this bond. It starts with her Great-Grandfather, a man named Daniel Martinez. Daniel was born in Mexico and moved to Los Angeles where he managed to save enough money to open his own meat market. But in the 1920's, Daniel lost his business. The family was forced to work as migrant farmers, entering a world in which their ethnic identity was used to vilify them. My grandfather said that there are water fountains and bathrooms and you know, basically anything that was open to the public that was segregated. There were Mexican schools and schools for white kids, and my Grandmother, half of her siblings were fair-skinned and had light eyes, and light hair, blonde hair, and red hair so they got to go to the white schools and then the darker-skinned siblings had to go to the Mexican schools. -

Interviewer

Jessica has heard painful stories all her life about the prejudice her family experienced. But she had no idea how determined her Great-Grandfather, Daniel, was to fight back. He didn't want his darker-skinned children to start life at a disadvantage, so Daniel banded together with other Mexican-American families to open a school of their own. -

Jessica

It's a school in Claremont, a Mexican school in Claremont. -

Interviewer

Yes, that's right. Have you ever heard of this school? No! Well your family played a key role in the creation of that school. Really? Yeah. That's so cool! Around 1927 your Great-Grandfather, Daniel, and some other Arbol Verde community members founded the East Barrio school. Oh, I didn't know that. They practiced reading and writing Spanish and they even studied Mexican history. Oh wow. So they didn't lose touch with their roots. Do you think that your Great-Grandfather founding the El Barrio school was a way of fighting back against the 'back of the bus' treatment that he was receiving? Absolutely. Ya. And I think also, um, wanting to still you know, instill pride in the children about who they are and where they came from and not feel shame, which is, you know, what you feel, I'm sure, when you're treated that way.